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Please find the former Campus 14 article here.

Campus 14 is a bar crawl on the University Park Campus of the University of Nottingham, England. Following alleged complaints from the local hospital about the number of students requiring medical attention, in 2001 the university officially banned students from taking part in the event. Staff at hall bars now occasionally refuse to admit or serve students whom they suspect are attempting the bar crawl. The ban is arguably ineffective; nearly all first year students learn of the Campus 14 during their first week, and it is still regularly undertaken by students from all year groups.

The Campus 14 is often attempted in large groups, and sometimes in fancy dress. There are many accounts of students who have completed the crawl and then attempted to swim across the University Park boating lake. The story that the official ban was introduced following the death of a student during a post-Campus-14 swim is, however, unfounded. Nevertheless, people still claim a number of students have died either directly or indirectly as a result of intoxication after attempting the Campus 14. ^{[citation needed]}

Typical route edit

The Campus 14 traditionally took place exclusively in bars located on the University Park Campus. This included twelve Hall Bars, and counted the Students' Union bar (The Ark, formerly the Buttery and the DH Lawrence Bar) twice.

Many students now prefer to include the Broadgate Park bar, making only one drink necessary in the Ark. This is a relatively new (post-millennial) development, and may be caused by the fact that the modern Ark is a single bar. Its predecessors on the same site, the Buttery and the DH Lawrence Bar, technically constituted two separate establishments (although they were linked, and students could move freely between them through internal double doors). Under the old system, it was thus possible for "fourteeners" to maintain the (psychologically crucial) charade of having drank in 14 establishments. Even this fairly faint pretence has been made impossible by the merger of the two bars into the Ark, so students now seek their fourteen by starting early at Broadgate. Alternatively, a popular starting point for residents of Raleigh Park is the Beach Bar (aka Finneys), which again means the Ark only has to be visited once.

The usual order in which the Hall Bars are visited is:

If included, Broadgate Park Bar is usually treated as the starting bar, since it tends to open a little earlier than the Hall Bars.

When included as two bars, The Ark is either visited first and last, or last only, and two drinks consumed there at the end of the night. This has been encouraged due to the Ark's club nights on Friday and Saturday nights. The Ark, therefore, has become the most obvious establishment in which to continue the merry-making. One currently popular version is to begin in the Ark and then work backwards through the above list: from Hugh Stewart Hall to Florence Boot Hall and then to the Ark.

'Rules' edit

To complete the crawl properly it is necessary to drink either a pint or a double shot in each bar, though few students manage this in all fourteen. The crawl is complicated by the relatively short time in which it has to be undertaken; most of the Hall of Residence bars open at 7.30pm, and all except the Ark close by 11pm, making the time limit usually around twenty minutes per bar including the walks between them. It is commonly performed on a Friday and Saturday night, when bars in town typically do not offer student discounts and the Ark is open later.

Health dangers edit

Consuming 14 pints or double spirits will usually equate to at least 28 units of alcohol. Each unit of alcohol consumed typically raises the Blood alcohol content by around 0.04. Whilst some alcohol will be metabolised by the body during the crawl, this gives some indication of the dangerous levels of alcohol that completing the campus 14 in such a short period can create. As well as the potential for alcohol poisoning, other dangers include choking or slipping on vomit, getting involved in a drunken fight, and stumbling in front of traffic whilst drunk. There are also long term effects associated with high levels of alcohol consumption, notably impacting liver and brain function. Alcohol also has a high calorific content, and excessive consumption is a contributory factor to many students putting on weight when they go to university.

Variations edit

Route variations edit

Many variations of the crawl exist. The most common being to go in the opposite direction so as to avoid the security staff that were added to the later bars after the bar crawl was banned. This reverse direction crawl also has the beneficial effect of reducing congestion in most of the bars on the route, except those in the middle (typically Sherwood, Rutland and Derby Hall bars) where the parties tend to arrive 'from both sides' at around the same time.

Other common variations include starting with a drink in the off-campus Broadgate Park Bar, as it opens earlier (6pm) than the Hall of Residence Bars. This route then requires only one drink in the Ark.

Other bars that could potentially be counted towards the bar crawl include:

Sutton Bonington bar
Newark and Southwell bars on Jubilee Campus
The Staff Club bar
The Beach Bar (Raleigh Park)
The Sports Centre Bar (no longer possible due to its closure)

These are not part of the typical route for various reasons. The bars on Sutton Bonington and Jubilee Campuses would require considerable travelling, which is impractical against an already challenging schedule. The Staff Club is not generally open to students.

Rule variations edit

Many people prefer to perform the Campus 14 drinking half-pints or single spirits. This is considerably safer than drinking pints or doubles, but still constitutes a large quantity of alcohol.

Others have attempted to complete the Campus 14 drinking soft drinks. Some have noted that trying to do it drinking 14 pints of cola can be just as difficult as drinking alcohol due to the amount of 'fizz', and the sickening quantity of sugar. This would also comprise a large dose of caffeine, which is likely to create a sensation similar to a hangover due to dehydration, and potentially other problems.

Still, others have been known to attempt the Campus 14 eating just pub snacks. The most common snacks avaible at campus bars are peanuts, pork scratchings and crisps.

A slightly tangential variant is Breakfast 12. This involves visiting each of the 12 campus halls between the hours of 8am and 9.30am to consume some form of breakfast. Breakfast is the only meal where this is possible due to meal cards being required at lunch and dinner. (No longer possible as of 2006. Meal cards cards are now required at breakfast.)

History edit

Prior to 2000 the Ark was formally viewed as two bars: the DH Lawrence Bar and the Buttery Bar. In practice, the two were just as joined as the Ark is today, and on most evenings punters could pass freely between the two; occasionally one half would be reserved for a private function, and the inter-connecting doors would be closed. This is the origin of counting 14 bars - the Buttery and DH Lawrence were counted separately.

Further complications edit

Many of the halls now have Smart Card access, intended to restrict entry to residents of that hall. So far, as of the 05/06 academic year, this is restricted to the halls on the West side of the University campus, and in any case entry can generally be achieved by using the phones provided.
Cripps Hall is manned by bouncers on Friday and Saturday nights who forbid entry to anyone clearly attempting Campus 14, whether that includes people in fancy dress or simply people approaching from either Lenton & Wortley Hall or Hugh Stewart Hall who are in a state of extreme drunkenness. Other bars also have bouncers at these times, but it is mainly an issue at Cripps, due to that being one of the final bars on the route. Cripps also has more private functions than other hall bars, and on these occasions no students are allowed in.
As of October 2006, Nottingham Hospitality (who now run all of the hall bars) have converted Hugh Stewart, Lenton and Derby hall bars into cafés called "the mix". These offer "branded coffees, extensive wine lists and a range of freshly-cooked food". The price of the wine on offer may rule that out as a possible alternative for many student budgets.
Also as of October 2006, the Willoughby Hall bar is currently still in development, and the temporary bar is far too small to house a large amount of students. Thus, the bar staff at Willoughby will frequently refuse to serve students who are not from the hall.